Karen IDPs suffer food shortages as clashes rage nearby

DVB

1 year ago

A Karen family share meager rations at their makeshift home in Myine Gyi Ngu camp. (PHOTO: DVB)

Thousands of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at the Myine Gyi Ngu camp in Karen State are living with increased food shortages since clashes broke out in recent days between a splinter faction of the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) and the local Border Guard Force (BGF) in Hlaing Bwe Township backed by Burmese government troops.

“We have only rice for survival,” said Saw Swe Tun, the camp administrator. “We have reported details of our hardship to the subordinates of [prominent local spiritual leader] Myine Gyi Ngu Sayadaw. We received some supplies from local government departments and organisations, but fewer and fewer in recent days.